The Mafia Discourse Between Imagery and Reality: Towards a Re-conceptualization of the Mafia Phenomenon?

Guest speaker : Valentina TENTI. Ph.D in Criminology (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan) and post-doctoral fellow at the Centre International de Criminologie Comparée (Université de Montréal), Valentina Tenti has authored several publications including articles and reports on organized crime, economic crime, network analysis and crime issues in general. In September 2012, she testified as a criminologist and expert in organized crime issues at the Quebec’s Commission of Inquiry on the Awarding and Management of Public Contracts in the Construction Industry.

Summary

This conference aims to raise questions about the image problems of the Mafia phenomenon and to de-construct the Mafia discourse through different “looking glasses” – imagery and reality – in an attempt to see, understand and define such phe-nomenon better. The author will present the preliminary results of the study she is conducting at CICC. An analysis of court evidence gathered during Operation Colisée, a police probe which is considered the largest investigation into the Italian Mafia in Quebec, is reported. The discourse around the imagery/reality dichotomy of the Mafia phenomenon is pursued by examining characteristics of the criminal group targeted during the investigations as seen by the network analysis of the intercepted communication patterns included in the prosecution material. The line of inquiry guiding this study examines the extent to which conventional descriptions of Mafia-type groups (formal organizational structure and mode of function) are valid reflections of the portrayal that emerges from the analysis.